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User blog:FateAlbane/Golden Orb Nephila (3/3 - Finale)
Aaaaand, now the conclusion. I'm amazed that I got this stuff done so fast. I thought it would take me like, what, three weeks? I'm kind of proud at how fast I did it. Doubt I'll be able to get this one done today though, so I'll extend the "imaginary deadline" on this one all the way to the weekend. EDIT (April 14, 2018): This final chapter will be separated by parts as it turned out bigger than the others. Everything will be posted today, though. Chapter 3 of 3 (Finale) - To those who depart... (Recommended Song) - The accumulated malice is so thick it’s almost tangible. Almost feels like the air is being choked. The many rock formations and the great forest of pine trees he left behind now looked like a gray and green sea of needless in the distance, as Yuji climbed the stairs towards the ending point of his journey… - So strange to have this kind of pressure in a place with this many shinmei torii, one after another. And no getting used to the chills either. It all happened within a single night, yet how long it felt now? With each step he took, gaining height over the land, one feet forward, one step, one stair. At a time, at a certain, at a pace. As cold as the wind was blowing through the stairs, what seemed like snowflakes started to fall around… No, it seemed more like they were dancing in the air as minimal phosphorescence. Orbs of light that went up and went down. This, along with the moon that seemed almost as great as the Pagoda with his approach to the final gate would make for a worthy and most of all, beautiful welcome to the traveler. …If not for the dried corpses that were caught up in the numerous webs spun around the castle. Left hanging like that and as numerous as the autumn leaves falling, Yuji felt pity for them: It was probably the remaining fluids dripping from their mummified bodies that filled the blood pond below. Truly a sight from hell, and one that he had to actively avoid by not looking up, but couldn’t do so forever: Some of these carcasses had been left to hang right in the middle of the pathway. Others’ remains were laid to the concrete ground, skulls scattered by the stairs. Surrounded by webs whose threads more looked like great many bridges that stretched above the formed clouds and beyond the moon, until disappearing in the very sky, Yuji couldn’t help but feel like this whole place was no different from the belly of some hell spawn that he was entering without notice. If not for Nephila warning him that extra care should be taken around these parts, he would have joined the unfortunate wanderers already, serving as another warning to the fate of those who came uninvited. He was about as prepared as anyone would be to see some gigantic spider the size of the pagoda emerge from somewhere he couldn't see, hiding the very moon in its shadow. Whenever he would see a body hanging, the man would know that it was a trap, and so he crouched under them and to the side, avoiding the possibility of contact as best as he could, continuing on his path even as fear finally started to take a hold on his soul and he wished that this had just been a nightmare after all. - Took you long enough. Your pace had me believe my sense of smell could be wrong, but the scent kept following so I stopped climbing. You really have the air of a living man. Or are you a half-breed? Yuji didn’t have to ask “who”, as the woman’s figure was quite clear in the stairs above, illuminated by the moonlight. Her hair was black yet seemed to have a glow to it, not unlike the appearance of the rarest pearls. An ornament like a small bouquet could be seen over one of her ears and her eyes were sharp as the blade she had sheathed and chained around her waist. - What’s a human’s business at the depths of this land? – she persisted, while her interlocutor was too busy paying attention to the delicate features of her otherwise serious face. – If you didn’t return even when under this malicious atmosphere, I take it you’re not here just to take in the sights like the last fool who became prey. As she uttered these words, the woman moved her hand while maintaining a dignified posture, taking a few hair strands of her fringe that had covered her eyes. Perhaps to better measure the new figure. Her long hair was about waist length and kept in a long ponytail with a ribbon. She was dressed in traditional miko clothes, in the well known colors of red and white. At first glance she could be mistaken for a bona fide shrine maiden, though she definitely didn’t give the impression of one. Her aura was no different from the many youkai that Yuji had met so far. Not in a good sense. The vibe she gave off was much worse, by force of presence alone. - So? Has your tongue been served as meat to the demons on the way here, are you just another ignorant who somehow wandered in this place by a fluke of Fate or you’re indeed more interested in the sights you’re seeing and thinking about, under these clothes? - …! – realizing that he had been staring too much, Yuji laughed like an idiot, trying to take it as a joke. But soon he remembered the spider’s words to be wary of all and spoke in earnest once again. – I have come to plead for the aid of the Spider Master in my cause. Helping the village and solving the situation I’m in is all I want. Nephila has sent me here. He explained who this Nephila was and the woman seemed to think for a few moments. Much like Yuji, she was initially as wary of his presence as a wounded animal would be. - So, is it ok to believe you’re the guest Chiasa told me about? He showed her the whistle, trying to prove his point in being another guest. Yuji assumed (correctly) that this woman too had gotten a similar object to call upon the Tengu in the way back. If this didn’t work… He was prepared to engage in battle when the woman spoke. - Ever since Death was sealed, everyone feels like they should take a shot at cheating on her, it seems. But I digress - compose yourself and keep the sword in its sheath. We have no reason to fight. To confirm what she was saying, the woman’s stance relaxed and she moved her hand away from the dark handle of the katana she was carrying. The scabbard had blood red ideograms inscribed in it, which read as “Demon God Sword”. - Your name? - It’s customary and in good nature to tell yours first. - True, but I’m not polite. Your name? – he replied with his well known sigh, followed by cooperation. – Yuji, eh? I wish I could say it’s a pleasure to meet you but in this place, it really isn’t. I answer by Takiyasha Amaterasu. - Should I call you Taki, then? - I don’t care much about what you’ll be calling me, but call me Amaterasu. - Oh-oka… … Wha. - Since we’re headed the same way and you were naive enough to actually tell me your name and reasons out of the blue without suspecting anything much, I take it you speak the truth. … It's not that he didn't suspect her, quite the contrary actually. But this woman gave the overall feeling of being on a level of her own, way different from what he had crossed paths with up to this point, so Yuji felt like trying to avoid her questions wouldn’t amount to much. And he was right: Refusal at this point would just lead to some mind-reading being applied on her end. He thought of asking what the girl meant with cheating death, but just looking around made that idea self-explanatory. - The aspect of this place has little to do with my remark. I just thought it was equally strange for the both of us to come this far expecting favors... From someone who has such exotic tastes in decoration. - Hah. The worst part of it is that you’re right. They shared a short laugh until Yuji stopped, thinking it was in bad taste to do so at the expense of these corpses. - You have as much time to waste as I do, no? That is to say, none. - What? You suggest we go together from now on? - Even I would like to have a companion to trust or, in this case, a decoy. Helps you calm down while being as surrounded by spider webs as an old forsaken house. - Just like we find ourselves now, eh? Anyways, together we go. I feel like I’d be less anxious facing judgement in the court of King Enma. - Oh, don’t be so hasty to assume. I’ve been there. Won’t say this here is worse, but how should I put it? I’ll give it to you that this comes somewhat high in the ranking if I compare to the Sights of Damnation you find in hell. I’m just out of shape these days, is all. Can't help being a little anxious. - What the… - You should try going down there someday. Assuming you’re asking favors out of this monster and using demonic energy, who knows. You might end up in the very place we speak of as soon as you die around here. This world’s surface does seem to run close to the pathways leading to Jigoku, out of the countless hells there are to be visited. - A-aaaaaaaaanyway! Let’s just be on our way, alright? Lead the way, Amaterasu. - De acordo. (Agreed) *** (Recommended Song - Note: Intro is loud.) - That Tengu told me that this stairway was a special one: It will lead us not to the inside of the temple outright, but to the highest floor instead. - Really? She didn’t tell me any of that. - Shame. But more importantly, - Sorry to interrupt… But is it just me or this climb is taking too long, even if we’re headed straight to the main keep? The more stairs we leave behind, the more the Entrance feels distant. - Seems you have been distracted from what’s around us, since you’re too worried about what’s close to you. …In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve long been detached from the ways, shapes and meaning of the Immaterial as much as this Land is already detached from the Mortal ways. Her words had the same effect of a wake-up call. Looking around them, Yuji realized there was no more sky. Or, it would be better said that the sky too was a long lost shape, trapped in a single strand of the massive webs. As if the laws of perspective were the first to lose their grasp of the world, the sky “rained”. This is no metaphor. If perspective was the first to go, the fabric that kept existence's shape was second in line to be torn asunder; with a ripping sound like that of cloth tearing as it's pulled to opposing sides. Any grasping or comprehension of the world - what used to be the sky and the sight of clouds, the moon and the stars... It all started to fall, drip, dripping. Drop by drop by drop. And soon, it was a powerful rain. Like ashes scattered to the winds, so was Reality and Comprehension of it. “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”, are said to be the words at the gates of Hell. In that case, what is to be abandoned at the Gates of Paradise? …The answer is Meaning. Or rather, Self. Yours, and that of the World below. Many beliefs would claim that to achieve Heaven, you’d need to set yourself free from desires of the Imperfect World. In other words, at the Gates of Heaven, “You” cannot enter. Because “you” are also a part of the world you have to abandon. The many faces of this Paradox had to be overcome in the way of Enlightenment. So... Through the last section of toriis, with great shimenawas around them in the final section of stairs, these words could be seen, floating and spinning around as they were written as glowing symbols, sacred syllables glowing in the dark like white paint in a black page, stamps of shine in the veil that was darkness. Surrounded by a divine aura their message was written, and floated like rainbow reflected bubbles in the air: “Abandon yourself, ye who enter here; Abandon the World, ye who enter here.” '' Even if he didn’t touch any of the webs that made Reality cease, Yuji instinctively knew that he would be gone along with it if not for the person who was by his side inducing him to stop in his tracks: He could no longer comprehend anything, for anything that his mind could shape had long ceased. That message was all that was left. Amaterasu's action could not be called fast, as “distance” '' was long gone and at best, now a illusion of the brainstem. Like a Jigsaw puzzle whose image could not sustain itself, existence around them was broke and breaking, and falling and distorting, piece by piece. A non-stop effect, no halt was in sight. When meaning itself is made meaningless, there’s only an absolute sense of void and stillness. In this detached domain of the Spider Webs, “All” was abandoned as “Prey”. The Hands of Time imploded, made less than a decrepit clock discarded by existence. The Streams of Space dried like a dead river, long lost, down to its last drop. The Laws of Causality were sand carried to the desert called Oblivion. Fundamental Concepts that held them together were breaking as glass, far beyond any reach – for reach itself was not. Existence eroded to a formless, primordial state. "Know that the word “Atom” means Indivisible. Atoms bind together and shape matter. In much the same way, Meaning binds Creation, shaping it into something recognizable. When significance was consumed by those spider webs, anything in the world which could not cross the Gates of Heaven would “liquefy” into a soup fundamental enough that no comprehension could hope to describe." - Fret not. In here, "no meaning" means you have arrived. 3 of 3 >>> Part 2. Category:Blog posts